Device for gathering balls.



No, 704,848.' Patented luiy 15,1902. F. mum".

DEVICE FOR GATHERING BALLS.

(Application filed Mar. 14,1902.)

(No Moder.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS MINTON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES MINTON,

OF LONDON, ENGLAND. I

DEVICE FOR GATHERING BALLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,848, dated July 15, 1902. Application filed March 14, 1902. Serial a. 98,255. (No. modem To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRAucIs MINTON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city of London, in the county of Middlesex, England, (whose post-office address is No. 17 Philpot Lane, London, England,') have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Devices for Gathering Balls,of which the following is a specification.

In la in arlor-tennisor 111- on the balls used constantly fall upon the floor and must be picked up from time to time. This.

proves very fatiguing to most adults if the hand is directly used for grasping the balls,

and the main object of my present invention is to provide a light and convenient means whereby these balls can be collected, one or many at a time, from the floor without the.

necessity of stooping, and my invention enables one to accomplish this with certainty and rapidity in whatever situation the balls may have fallen, whether under furniture, against the wall, or in a corner.

In its preferred form my invention is illustrated in perspective in the accompanying drawing Without its handle.

This device is intended to be fixed at the extremity of an appropriate handle, such as a stick, stiff wire, or the like, in a manner so obvious as to require no illustration here.

The essential features of the device are a receptacle of appropriate shape and size, open on at least one side and having stretched or hung across this opening one or more flexible retaining-strips, so spaced as to permit a ball to pass into the receptacle only by pressing such strip to one side. 'In its preferred form the retaining-strip should be elastic, and I prefer to construct the whole as shown in the accompanying figure. Here the receptacle is composed of wires A, arranged to form a light framework having admissionopenings which the spiral springs B and O are stretched to serve as retaining-strips. One of the remaining faces of the receptacle may be provided with a movable portion hinged at D, as the wire door E, fastened by the elastic wire catch F or otherwise. This facilitates withdrawing the balls and is part of my more specific invention, although it is tobe underon two contiguous faces, across stood that this is not an essential of my invention as broadly considered.

The receptacle is secured to the extremity of any appropriate handle, tioned, byany desired means. I have found it well to use thespiral spring G for this purpose. This spring is attached at one end to the wires A and may be slipped tightly over the handle in a Well-known manner. shown in the drawing, it is found well to arrange one open face (as, for instance, that in which are stretched the retaining-strips C) in an inclined position with regard to the conas before men- '55 As 6e tiguous faces of the receptacle. An acute angle is thus formed at one edge which will facilitate following the ball into corners and like difficult situations.

In picking up a ball either of the admission-faces is pressed against the hall, where upon the corresponding retaining-strips B or G will be automatically diverted, admitting the ball and returning into the position shown after the ball has entered, so as to prevent its falling out again.

A number of balls may be picked up at once by use of my device and will all find storage within the receptacle.

It is to be understood that my invention is not confined to the particular arrangement or kind of retaining-strips shown, nor to any particular number thereof or of admissionfaces, nor is my invention confined to the use of a wire receptacle. Indeed, many minor changes can be made in my device as herein shown and described Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is 1. A device for picking up balls, comprising a receptacle having one or more admiso sion openings and flexible retaining strips across said openings, substantially as .described.

2. A device for picking up balls comprising a receptacle having an admission-opening 5 inclined so as to make an acute angle with one of the faces of said receptacle, and flexible strips across said opening.

3. A device for picking up balls comprising a receptacle having one or more admission-openings, a movable door for facilitating withdrawal of the balls and flexible strips across the admission-openings, substantially as described.

4. A device for picking up balls comprising a receptacle having one or more admission-openings and one or more elastic retaining-strips across each opening substantially as described.

5. A device for picking up balls comprising a wire framework open on one side at least and one or more spiral springs stretched across the opening to form a retaining-strip substantially as described.

6. A device for picking up balls comprising a wire framework open on two contiguous 

